Captures, Narratives & Opinions on Life & Travels

What is future of Photography?

Photography is one of the most popular hobbies across the World. I’m being plagued by a question, now and then – What is future of photography?

DSLR cameras…. will these too relegate to history?

There are some developments in photography world which I have observed, lately. These are:

Increased sharing of pictures clicked through mobile phone on social media. People nowadays prefer posting pictures instantly on FB, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest. Pictures are increasingly used to connect with the our circle and to depict how we are having time of our life.

Falling camera sales – Many Camera manufacturers have already announced that they will not manufacture entry-level cameras as there are no takers. Mobile phones have replaced entry-level cameras. Similarly, DSLR sales have fallen year on year. Newer camera technology like Mirror-less cameras sales are yet to garner momentum.

No major innovation or leading technology in digital camera industry has taken place in last 5 years. The innovations are slow and prices are still high. There is not much excitement in the Camera industry. In fact, new model launches in DSLR/Mirror-less cameras hardly have any major technological up grades. On the other hand, every new mobile phone launch has something new to talk about on camera front, like dual back camera, recently

People are buying mobile phone based on its camera quality. Camera capability & functions in mobile phones rate very high. Some of new launches like Samsung Galaxy S7 has better & advanced camera sensors offering increased technical options. In a way, people prefer better mobile phones to capture pictures and not carry bulky DSLR with them. what’s more? one can share pictures with their circle instantly on social media or whatsapp groups.

Printing of pictures is so much like a bygone era. You merely store it away on your hard drive or cloud. And by the way who needs to pull out old picture?

Many professional & senior photographers have shifted to mobile photography. It could be because of novelty or sheer boredom, since photography industry hasn’t produced anything significant over last few years. However, it does point to how things will turn out in times to come. iphonography….have you heard this word?

The current trends indicates that people click picture to share moments rather store a memory. This is a major shift which will dictate the future of photography. If you don’t need pictures as a memory, the entire concept of photography changes. While photography emerged later with the invention of pin hole cameras, it’s predecessor – (portrait) painting was quite popular. Imagine a huge shift from painting to selfie, we are talking about changes over span of few hundred years. Cameras became popular in 1970’s and 1980’s when the Japanese companies started mass manufacturing and offering them at affordable prices. Similarly, with cheap & affordable mobile phones who needs camera?

Mobile photography…way forward?

It will be really interesting to see where all these trends head to. Even though Camera manufacturers themselves are thinking hard in the light of these developments, fact is no one really know how these technological changes will manifest on photography industry. But one thing is for sure, now everyone is a photographer – at least they think so!

yeah everyone is a photographer today indeed, thanks to the upgraded technology, but I think there are few things which only DSLR camera and a professional can do. Photography is an art and not all are master in it,so might be with changing era few up gradation and changes might come but future will always be there. just my prospective.